Title: Flordia X-cursion
Date: June 10, 2000
Author: Melissa, The Evil Demon Child
Catagorys: E, H, DBN HR
Disclaimer: I have money now, but not enough to sue for.  So please don't.  I 
own all the people and places not owned by the JQ people.
Archivers: Please!!
Author's note: Wow, I finished a fic! I'm not sure it has a plot, but it's 
probably in there somewhere.  Please tell me what you think!  Oh, yeah, I 
don't know if I spelled Senoritta right, but that's because Cassie wasn't 
home. <sends evil looks in Cassie's direction>



    "This place is huge," Jonny commented.  He, Jessie, and Dr. Quest were 
standing in the lobby of Chandler Hotel Key West.  They were there for the 
Annual Marine Biology Conference.  Directly across from the revolving doors 
at the entrance was a long check-in counter with room for numerous lines.  On 
either side the room led off to various corridors, and bellboys were pushing 
racks of luggage down them and into the elevators.
    "I'll go check us in," Dr. Quest said.  "You stay with our luggage."  He 
put down his suitcases and joined the shortest line.
    "Uhh," Jessie dropped her bags and shook her arms, "these bags are so 
heavy."
    "What did you pack, bricks?"  Jonny looked around the lobby.
    "I did not pack bricks," Jessie replied.  "But I had to pack my laptop 
for the seminar and my moon shoes for the dinner."
    "Moon shoes?"  Jonny raised and eyebrow.
    "Yeah-" she looked around, "like those."  Jessie pointed to a blond girl 
who was talking to two hotel officials.  She was also wearing 5-inch 
platforms.
    "We're on the fourth floor," Dr. Quest said as he returned with a porter. 
 He handed them each a silver key attached to a blue key chain with the 
number 429 written in silver on it. 
    "May I take your bag, Miss?" the young porter asked Jessie.
    "Oh, yeah."  She handed over her backpack and he put it on the rack with 
the rest of their luggage.
    "Here, " Jonny shoved his duffel bag into the brown haired porter's arms. 
 "I'm off Dad, I'll be back by six."  Jonny waved as he walked off to 'check 
out' the hotel.
    "I think I'm going to unpack first Dr. Quest, " Jessie said, and ran 
after the young man to reach him before he got in the elevator.
    Dr. Quest swung his head back and forth, looking in the directions the 
teenagers had gone.  He shrugged his shoulders.

    "Hold the elevator!"  Jessie yelled.  The porter quickly stuck his arm 
between the elevator doors before they closed.
    "Thanks," she said slipping in.  The red-head looked at her feet for a 
second, and then asked "So, how long have you been working here?"
    "Only since June," he replied, "But I need to make as much money as I 
can, I'm going to Princeton in the fall."  The doors opened. 
    "Oh really," Jessie leaned against the wall to let the cart out. "What 
are you studying?" 
    He pushed the luggage rack down the hall. "I want to be an 
anthropologist, but I have a double major in that and archeology."
    "No way, my mom's an archeologist, " Jessie played with her room key 
while she walked next to him.
    "Who is she?" he inquired.
    "Estella Velenquez."
    He nodded.  "I read one of her papers once.  Is she with you?"
    Jessie shook her head.  "No, I live with my dad."
    "Is that who you were with before?" he asked.
    "No," she replied when they reached the door, "That's Dr. Quest, my dad's 
his bodyguard.  And his son Jonny was with us."
    "I see."  He raised his eyebrows as he used a set of keys to open the 
door.  He began to put the luggage inside.
    "Thanks," Jessie said when he pulled the cart out of the doorway.
    "I'll let you get away with out a tip Miss Velenquez," he flashed her a 
smile.  "And by the way, my name is Ty Everett."
    Jessie stared as he pushed the cart back to the elevator.  "Stupid," she 
said and slapped herself on the forehead with the hand her key was in.

    Jonny walked casually in the direction where the moon shoe girl was 
standing.  She was still talking to the hotel manager.  Jonny leaned against 
the wall behind a tall potted plant.
    "And at least half of them were replaced," he heard her say.  Then with a 
courtly nod of her head she left them and entered the dinning room.  The 
other two men disbanded and Jonny cautiously came out from behind the plant.  
He peered into the dining room and saw the blonde girl sitting at the bar 
drinking a Shirley Temple.  She was wearing light khaki shorts and a white 
tank top.  Her shoulder length hair was pulled away from her face by 
tortoiseshell clips.
    "You look bored," Jonny commented.
    "Oh," she looked at him, surprised.  "I was just thinking."
    Jonny stuck his hand out.  "Jonny Quest.  I'm here for the conference.  
You?"
    "Uh, yeah, Madeleine Randall," she kept shaking his hand absentmindedly.  
"Quest- isn't there a Dr. Quest speaking about some deep sea carnivorous 
creatures or-"
    "Yeah, that's my dad.  And they were a little more than carnivorous."  He 
pulled his had away from hers.
    "Oh sorry," she said noticing.  "Did you see one of them?"
    "See one of them!  I had to get my dad and the other scientists out of 
the station."
    "You were there?" she looked up at him in awe.  "Did you have to get them 
out yourself?"
    Jonny took her hand and lifted her off the stool.  "Yeah.  It was just 
me-pretty much.  But let me start from the beginning."  He put his arm around 
her waist and led her out to one of the hotels many promenades.

    "Oh, so much better."  Jessie sank down into an armchair in the central 
room of the hotel suite.  The air conditioner was at full blast, and the 
balcony window drapes where drawn.  She sighed as she fanned herself with a 
magazine.  "I think I'm just going to stay her all day. "  Her head rolled 
lazily to the side and her eyes slowly shut.
    Then there was a knock on the door.  "Huh?"  Jessie lifted her head, but 
she let it fall back down.  "Whoever it is'll just go away, " she told 
herself as she pulled up her legs onto the chair.  
    Click.
    Jessie opened an eye.  Someone had unlocked the door and was slowly 
opening it.  She quietly rolled off the chair and crawled behind it.  Whoever 
was breaking in couldn't see her.
    Jessie crouched behind the chair, now fully alert.  She could hear the 
person walking across the room to her position.  They stopped right next to 
the chair, and Jessie could see a sneakered foot.  The other foot moved, and 
Jessie jumped.
    "Oww!  My eye!"  A brown-haired teen-age boy held his hand over his left 
eye.  Jessie tilted her head to try to look past his hand.
    "Ty?" she asked.
    "Yes," he momentarily uncovered his eye and looked at her.  "What's the 
matter with you?"
    "You broke in, " she defended.
    "Yeah, but you didn't have to try to kill me."
    "Let me get some ice."  Jessie walked over to the mini-fridge and put 
some ice in a towel.  "I'm so sorry," she apologized.
    "That's okay," Ty replied as he took the makeshift ice pack.
    "Sit down, " she ordered.  He sat in the chair Jessie had rested in 
earlier, and she sat on the coffee table across from him.
    "Well Miss Velenquez.  You said your dad's a bodyguard, I should have 
known."  Ty carefully put the pack over his eye.
    "Bannon actually," she corrected, "I use my dad's name."
    "Oh," he nodded his head.
    "But what were you doing?"  Jessie asked.  "How'd you open the door?"
"I have keys, remember?" he answered.  "And I just came to ask you if you 
wanted me to show you around the hotel."
    "Oh," Jessie looked at her feet guiltily.  "Well, you still could, 
maybe," she dared to look up at his good eye.
    "Yeah, I could show the infirmary," Ty replied.  Then he laughed.  "Come 
on, Senoritta.  I can get us a table in the luncheon hall without waiting."  
He got up and walked over to the door.  "You first.  Don't want you to 
suddenly attack me when I'm not looking."
    Jessie stood up.  "Yeah, but I could still get you outside the door," she 
pointed out.
    "I'll duck this time," Ty replied.  They both laughed as they left the 
room.
Jonny and Madeleine, or "Maddy" as she insisted he call her, learned all the 
important things about each other in 5 minuets.  They spent the next few 
hours doing different things around the hotel- swimming, tennis, pool- among 
other things.  Maddy was throwing a game of pool to Jonny when he looked at 
his watch and noticed the time.  
    "Jeez, we must have spent the whole afternoon together," he said. 
    Maddy looked up.  "Really?"  She shot blindly.  "Damn.  Got one of yours."
    Jonny turned his attention back to her.  "I distracted you, sorry."  He 
took the ball out of the pocket and put the others back where they had been.  
Then he stepped behind her and put his arms over hers to help her line up the 
shot.  "Line it up…and…good!"  She'd managed to get two of her balls into 
the pockets.
    "What time is it?" she asked.
    Jonny looked at his watch.  "Two-thirty," he replied.
    Maddy paused.  "Okay, I have to go do something," she began clearing the 
table.  "In the saferoom, " she added.
    "Checking up on something?  You're not paranoid, are you?"
    She hit him.  "No I'm not paranoid," she said.  "I just have to make sure 
it was handled properly and then we can get something to eat."
    "All right," he replied, and put his cue back on the rack.  Maddy picked 
up the cueball and dropped it off at the desk on their way out.
    
    "So there's the front desk, of course, and behind it is the hotel 
manager's office."  Jessie nodded as Ty pointed out everything in the hotel.  
He stopped walking.  "Hey, isn't that that friend of yours?" he asked.
    Jessie looked in the same direction.  "That's Jonny, but I don't know who 
the girl is."
    "Oh I know," Ty said when her face became visible.  "That's Madeleine 
Chandler, the owner's daughter.  She's probably making sure the vault is 
running smoothly or something like that."
    "The owner's daughter?"  Jessie questioned.
    "Yeah, she's probably going to inherit it," he added.
    Jessie nodded, then mentally shrugged.  "You're eye's looking better, " 
she commented.
    "Ah yes, tell me is it still a lovely shade of purple or is it green 
yet?"  Ty joked.
    Jessie sighed.  "Purple," she answered meekly.
    Ty laughed.  "Let's go get something to eat."

    "Let me just drop my stuff off first," Jonny said, and put his key in the 
door to the suite.
    "Gosh!"  Jonny exclaimed when he opened the door.
    "What is it?"  Maddy pushed past him.  "Oh my god!"
    The room was a complete wreck.  All the drawers from the individual rooms 
had been pulled out.  Every suitcase had been emptied; the beds were torn 
apart.  Feathers from the pillows were still settling onto the floor.
    "Your suite is torn apart and all you can say is 'gosh'?"  Maddy looked 
at Jonny, who shrugged.
    "I wonder what they were looking for," Jonny stepped into the room to 
look around.
    "No," Maddy held him back.  "We should call security first."  She walked 
over to a service phone near the maid's lounge and dialed the main office.
    "Hello?  I need a security team at room 429.  Completely torn apart.  
Yes, it is, could you page him?  Good, I'll be up here."  She hung up the 
phone and turned to Jonny.  "They're sending up a security team and paging 
your father,"  she informed him.
    "Good," he replied, then thought for a second, "We should probably call 
Jessie, too.  She'll want to-" he broke off as he glanced down the hall.
    Ty was carrying Jessie over his shoulder and both were hysterically 
laughing.  Ty stopped right in front of where Jonny and Maddy were standing.
    "What is it?"  Jessie asked, trying to see.
    "Um, I think somebody trashed your room," Ty flipped her over and put her 
down.
    "No way!" she exclaimed and she looked inside, then turned around and saw 
Jonny.  "What happened?"
    "I don't know," Jonny replied, "Maddy and I just got here, and it was 
like this."
    Ty turned to Jonny, "You mean you didn't-"
    At that moment Dr. Quest, the hotel manager, and four security guards in 
gray uniforms came down the hall.  Maddy immediately took charge.
    "Nobody's entered the room yet, so you can dust for prints on the 
windowsill.  Everything is still settling, so it didn't happen too long ago," 
she turned to Dr. Quest.  "I just checked the saferoom five minuets ago, so 
you don't have to worry."
    "What do you have in the vault Dad?"  Jonny asked.
    Dr. Quest thought about his answer.  "Something for the conference, but I 
can't tell you what yet."
    "Miss Chandler, we're done her," one of the guards told Maddy.
    "Did you find anything?' she asked.
    "No," he replied, "whoever did this is good."
    Maddy nodded in acknowledgement and then looked back in the room.  
"Tyler, could you get the maids and have them help clean this up."  She 
gestured to the mess.
    "Oh of course, anything you need, Ms. Chandler," Ty replied, almost 
sarcastically, and walked down the hall to the maids lounge.
    "Chandler?"  Jonny faced Maddy.
    "Um," she twisted her fingers nervously.
    "Umm…" Jonny prompted
    "Oh god," Jessie rolled her eyes.  "She's the hotel owners daughter."
    "How did you now?"  Maddy asked.
    "Ty told me," Jessie replied simply.
    Jonny thought.  "Oh was that-"
    "They'll be here in a few minuets," Ty walked back to where the others 
were standing.  
    "My dress!"  Jessie suddenly cried out and ran into the room.  Maddy went 
in after her.  The girls lifted up the floor- length green strappy evening 
dress.
    "It looks okay," Maddy observed, turning it around, "but I'll send it to 
the dry cleaners."  She looked up.  "You need it by tonight?"
    "Yes, I almost forgot," Jessie confirmed, then looked at the boys still 
standing in the doorway.  "Ty, I meant to ask you, will you come with me to 
the dinner tonight?"
    "I don't know," he replied.  Jessie's eyes pouted.  "If you want me to I 
will though."  She smiled.
    Maddy took the dress and walked out into the hallway, purposely stepping 
on Jonny's foot on the way.
    "Ow," then he saw Maddy glaring at him.  "Oh, um, Maddy, will you come to 
the dinner with me?"
    She smiled brightly.  "Sure Jonny, I'd love to!"  Then she left to take 
the dress downstairs.
    "Oh," Jessie remembered, "Jonny, this is Ty.  Ty this is Jonny.  Ty works 
here."  She began picking up the clothes on the floor, and the boys joined 
her.
    "Oh yeah," Jonny realized, "you're the bell boy who brought our bags up."
    "I prefer Professional Luggage Transporter," Ty replied icily.
    "Okay," Jonny replied.  "But I don't remember you having that black eye.  
How'd you get it?"
    Jessie began furiously overturning furniture.  "I don't think that's any 
of your business," he responded.
    "Whatever," Jonny backed off and carried some of his clothes back to his 
room.
    Jessie looked nervously back and forth.  Suddenly, she didn't think 
inviting Ty had been such a good idea.

    "I can't help it," Ty apologized.  "I just don't like parties."  Jessie 
sighed and looked at the clock.  It read ten after nine.  The dinner had 
started at six, and by now everyone was dancing.
    "Well," she looked around, "we'll go out to he veranda and talk."  
    "So why don't you like parties?"  Jessie asked.
    Ty shrugged.  "I guess because I didn't go to any in high school.  To 
busy studying."
    Jessie sat down.  "I don't know, I only went to school one year."
    "You're kidding!"  Ty sat down next to her.
    "No, Jonny and I just went last year as sophomores, but we're not going 
back next year."
    "How did you do?" he asked.
    "We were fine, except we both stunk in English," she made a gagging sound.
    "Oh, well," Ty slowly lifted his arm behind Jessie's back, "I wasn't that 
great in English either."
    "Oh my god!"  Jessie shot forward.
    "What?"  Ty pulled his arm back to his side.
    "Shh!"  She waved her hand and whispered, "Someone's climbing down the 
wall."
    Ty squinted.  "He's headed for the saferoom," he whispered, "but why is 
he climbing down?"
    "He must have been dropped off at the roof."  Jessie stood up; "I'm going 
to get Jonny.  Watch him, will you?"  She walked back through the double door 
to the dining room.
    Ty leaned back against the stone railing.  "No problimo Senoritta," he 
said.
    
    "Your turn," Maddy told him.
    "Hmm," Jonny looked around the room as they danced.  "I spy…someone in 
red."
    "Red…red…your dad, dancing with that Ukrainian scientist."
    "Yup," he confirmed, "Now you go."
    "Alright," Maddy said, "I spy something reddish-pink."
    "Reddish-pink?"  Jonny scrutinized the room.  "Oh, the punch drink."  
Then he saw her face.  "I take it you want some?"
    "Please?" her eyes pleaded.
    "Okay, I'll meet you at the table," he said, and left her to walk over to 
the buffet table.
    "Jonny!" he turned around and saw Jessie.
    "What?"
    "There's someone climbing down the side of the hotel into the saferoom," 
she said urgently.
    "Do you think they're after whatever Dad has in there?"  Jonny questioned
    "Probably," she answered.  Jonny headed for the veranda and Jessie 
followed.
    "He just went inside," Ty supplied, then saw both of them.  "Oh, it's 
you."
    "Sorry," Jonny apologized sarcastically.
    "That's okay," Ty replied.
    Jonny moved to the far side of the veranda.  "Where did he go in?"  Jonny 
asked.
    "Through the saferoom window," Ty answered.
    Jonny looked annoyed.  "And that would be…."
    "The one that's open…" Ty replied in the same condescending tone.
    "Look," Jonny spun around and faced Ty.  "I don't know what your problem 
is-"
    "*My* problem!"  Ty shouted, "You're the one who's acting so high and 
mighty-"
    "I'm sorry," Jonny held up his hands innocently, " if I'm treating you 
like an employee of the hotel when you are a baggage-"
    "PROFESSIONAL LUGGAGE TRANS-"
    "Oh give me a BREAK!"  Jonny yelled back.
    "Um guys-" Jessie began.
    "All I wanted to know, was which window this guy went into so I can 
follow him!"  Jonny shouted in Ty's face.
    "Oh, and you think a pipsqueak like you can take care of that guy,"
Ty emphasized his superior height.
    "Jonny, Ty," Jessie tried again nervously.
    "I've taken on guys twice my size!  But judging from that shiner of 
yours," Jonny nearly poked him in the eye, "you couldn't hit water if you 
fell off a boat!" 
    "Why you-"
    "HE CAN HEAR YOU AND IS GETTING AWAY!"
    The boys looked at the wall and saw the black-camouflaged man running 
away from the hotel.  They immediately jumped over the stone railing and 
began chasing him.
    "What is it?"  Maddy came up next to Jessie.
    "I think someone took whatever Dr. Quest had in the vault," she explained.
    "But what was all that shouting?"  Maddy asked.
    Jessie rolled her eyes.  "Don't ask."
    The girls turned around and saw the whole room looking at them; the boys 
had been that loud.
    Maddy took a deep breath.  "I want security teams on the lawn NOW!"  She 
began walking through the crowd.  "Turn on the spotlights, secure the exits 
and you-" she pointed at the hotel manager, "are coming with me to the 
saferoom."
    While she was doing this Jessie had walked over to Dr. Quest and was 
explaining to him what had happened.
    "And that shouting was…" he prompted.
    "Um," Jessie chose her words carefully, "I don't think Ty and Jonny like 
each other much."
    "I see," he replied knowingly.
    They followed Maddy and the hotel manager into the saferoom.
    "All of them are closed," the manager observed.
    "That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Maddy looked at Dr. Quest.  
"Would you care to open the vault?"
    Dr. Quest walked up to the door of the vault that had been reserved for 
him.  He punched in a long code and opened it.  There was nothing in it.  Dr. 
Quest sighed.
    "Do you have any idea who wanted to steal it?"  Maddy asked.  Dr. Quest 
hesitated.  Maddy nodded to herself.  "I'll take that as a yes, especially 
since half my security officers were replaced by Agency men."  He looked 
surprised.  "I keep track of my employees," she explained.
    "Dr. Quest," Jessie began, "what did you have in there?"
    He regarded Jessie for a moment.  "An organic enzyme which can catalyze 
cell reparations, but in gaseous form it can be used as a biological weapon."
    "But who-" Jessie was cut off.
    "Whoever he was got away, and the boys aren't anywhere."
    "Dad?"  Jessie spun around.  Race was dressed as one of the hotel's 
security officers and was obviously the leader of the Agency men Maddy had 
referred to.
    "You didn't think I'd allow Dr. Quest anywhere without a bodyguard," he 
asked rhetorically.
    "You can't find Jonny?"  Maddy interrupted worriedly.
    "Or Ty?"  Jessie added.
    Race looked uncomfortable for a moment.  "No.  They must have been taken. 
 But why were they chasing him?"
    Jessie held her head.  "They were playing the 'I'm Way Cooler Than You'll 
Ever Be' game."
    "Can't you track them or something?"  Maddy asked.
    "Yes!"  Jessie snapped her fingers.  "Jonny's watch.  Come on, my 
laptop's in the suite."  The girls ran out of the saferoom.  Dr. Quest and 
Race followed, leaving the somewhat confused hotel manager next to the open 
vault.

    "It has a twenty mile range," Jessie explained as she was typing rapidly 
in her Questworld laptop.  Maddy leaned over her shoulder to look at the 
screen.
    "Did you find him?"  Race asked as he and Dr. Quest entered the room.
    Jessie typed the enter key and took in the results.  "Yes, he's 
stationary five miles from here."  Race looked over his daughter's other 
shoulder.
    "I know where that is," he said, then pulled out a two-way radio from his 
belt.  "This is Redbird calling base.  Professor X and chicks are at the 
plastics office building on Franklin Street, over."  He waited.  "Roger that. 
 Sending teams out now.  Meet them in ten minuets, over."
    "Roger, over and out," Race replied.
    "It's a good thing Jonny never takes his watch off," Dr. Quest sank into 
an armchair and rested his head on his hand.
    "Don't worry Doc," Race said, "We'll get them."  Then he addressed the 
girls.  "I know I can trust you not to play hero," he said, and left the room.
    It was quiet for a moment.  Then Jessie began typing again.  "If it's an 
office building, maybe we can hack into the security cameras."  She handed a 
cord to Maddy.  "Here, plug this in the phone jack."
    "You act like you've done this before," Maddy voiced.
    Jessie just smiled.
"Ow-stop that!"
    "Just relax, I've done this before."
    "What, rubbed off all your skin and bleed to death?  Oww."
    Ty and Jonny were locked in one of the building's empty offices.  They 
were in complete darkness, and tied back to back to each other.
    "For your information," Jonny struggled with the ropes, "my brother's a 
yogi."
    "Oh and that automatically makes you and expert," Ty retorted.
    Jonny didn't reply, but carefully pulled his left hand away, and the rest 
of the ropes fell off.  "Satisfied?"
    "Sure, but next time could you do it without ripping through my nerve 
cells?"  Ty rubbed his wrists in the dark.
    "So you want to get captured again?"  Jonny asked facetiously.  "Oh I get 
it, no one can see that black eye of yours in the dark."
    "Oh, funny.  So what now?"
    "First of all, we've got to get out of this room.  Check the walls."  
They began feeling around the room.
    "I found the door," Ty said.  He tried the knob.  "It's locked."
    Jonny found his way over to Ty.  "They're probably guarding it anyways.  
It'd be better is we could find an air vent or something."
    "Hold still a sec," Ty commanded.  "I think, I fell some air coming from 
the right corner."  They walked over in that direction, Ty leading the way, 
Jonny holding onto his shoulder.
    "Definitely from here," Jonny agreed.  "Lift me up.  No wait- I don't 
trust you; I'll lift you up."
    "Oh, and I can trust you?"  Ty complained as his foot found Jonny's hands.
    "Jeez, hurry up, will you?"  Jonny groaned.
    "I gotta find it first," Ty replied. "It won't come off."
    "Well pull harder then, and hurry it up," Jonny yelled.  Ty grabbed hold 
and yanked off the metal grill, causing both boys to topple over.
    "Oww!"  Jonny cried.
    "You told me to pull harder."
    "Just get up again."  Jonny held his hands out.
    Ty stepped, found the opening, and pulled himself up.  Then he put his 
hand down through the vent.
    "Well?"  Jonny asked expectantly.
    "It's there," Ty replied.  Jonny grabbed, and Ty pulled him up.
    "God, what do you weigh?"  Ty backed up in the shaft and hit his head.
    "Not as much as you," Jonny responded, and finished pulling himself up.  
"Which way?"
    "Well I'm not turning around if that answers your question."
    "Okay then, lead on," and the boys moved forward in the airshaft.

    "Flyer to Redbird," a female voice came over Race's headset.  "All ground 
exits are secure, over."
    Race looked around.  He was about one hundred meters from the office 
building, behind a row of tall bushes.  He and the other three people with 
him were dressed completely in black.  Race flicked the switch on his headset.
    "Understood Flyer.  I'm leading Omega team up to the roof.  Over."
    "Roger that.  Over and out."
    Race turned around and motioned to the team.  They quietly shouldered 
their lightweight packs.
    Race led them around the bushes and in a straight line to the corner of 
the building.  Then he signaled to a brown-haired woman in the group.  She 
reached behind her and took out a grappling gun.  She backed up, aimed, and 
fired.
    The claw shot out and hooked onto the edge of the roof.  She detached the 
rope from the gun, checked it, and climbed up.  The others followed, with 
Race bringing up the rear.
    On the roof they saw two guards at the entrance to the stairs.  Race, and 
a black-haired member of the team, came up form the side and knocked them out 
with the buts of their guns.
    Quietly they all descended the narrow staircase and then went down a hall 
in the direction they believed the boys were.
    Race motioned for the team to follow him through a conference room. 
    They stepped inside, and the lights clicked on.
    "Congratulations Mr. Bannon," a short, thin man stood on a podium across 
the room from the team.  He clapped his hands.  "You found me."
    "Professor X," Race replied without nervous hesitation.  "On behalf of 
the Agency, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
    "The pleasure is all mine," he smiled.  "Now guards, take them."
    Guards appeared from all corners of the room, outnumbering them nearly 
ten to one.
    The brown-haired women attacked first, kicking one of the guards down and 
jabbing another in the stomach.  The short, dark-haired Agency man used his 
size to dodge and attack the guards from behind.  The other member of the 
team, a tall, sandy haired young man looked like he could have been broken in 
half by the bulky guard he was tackling.  But by using various martial arts 
moves he brought him, and two others, down.  Race was the most adept fighter 
of them all, well versed in martial arts, wrestling, and boxing among others. 
 When he knocked out a guard, he stayed down.
    As they slowly but surely overcame the hired thugs, Professor X 's face 
was becoming more nervous each second.

    "Are you sure you're switching cameras?"  Maddy asked.
    "Positive, but all the rooms are pitch black," Jessie replied as she kept 
forwarding through security cameras.
    Maddy sighed, then looked back at the screen.  "Holy smokes!"  The girls 
stared at the picture in front of them.  This security camera was from the 
conference room, and the girls watched as the four Agency officers fought.
    "Dr. Quest!  Dr. Quest!"  Jessie yelled.  He had moved to the other room 
not long after Jessie linked up to the office's security net.
    "What is it?" he asked, walking up behind them.
    "It's Dad's team," Jessie answered.  They watched in silence for a 
minuet, then Maddy blinked.
    "Isn't that-?"
    Dr. Quest leaned forward.  "Yes!"
    "What?"  Jessie asked, not understanding.
    "The enzyme!" he replied.
    Maddy pointed.  "The guy on the platform has it."
    "But he's leaving!"  Jessie protested.  "Come on dad-look!"

    "Ow, stop bumping into me!"  Ty yelled over his shoulder.
    "Well maybe," Jonny began, " if you moved a little faster I wouldn't."
    "Excuse me if I can't see where I'm going," Ty shot back.
    "Of course you can't, you only have one eye."  Jonny shook his head in 
the dark air vent.  "We're getting nowhere.  We should have taken the left at 
the last intersection.  I'm going back."
    "No," Ty ordered, "we should keep going.  Besides, it was you who wanted 
to go right."
    "I don't think so," Jonny corrected.  "You're the one who insisted we 
turn right."  He began to back up and turn around.
    "Hey!"  Ty grabbed his leg.  "I don't think so."
    "Lay off!"  Jonny tried to pry Ty's hand away.
    "Ow!  That's where the ropes were!"  Ty shouted, and yanked Jonny's 
shoulder.
    "Let go!"
    "Not until you do first!"
    "No way, I don't trust you further than I can spit!"  They struggled with 
each other a bit.   
    "Well now I can't let go."
    "Your leg is in my ear."
    "If you'd move your arm-"
    "Your ugly face is in the way."
    "Back to third rate insults are we?'
    "Shut up and pull your leg back."
    "I would if - woah!"
    "Um, Ty, did this thing suddenly just drop?"

    The brunette was the first to notice.  "Race, he's getting away!"  she 
cried, then got conked on the head for her troubles. 
    The distraction caused Race to get caught in a headlock and all he could 
do was watch as Professor X got away with the enzyme.
    Professor X had reached the door next to the platform when part of the 
ceiling collapsed.
    Jonny and Ty came falling onto him, along with ceiling tiles and parts of 
the metal air vent.
    By this time, Race had freed himself from the thug.  "Get the enzyme!" he 
shouted at them.
    "The what?"  Jonny asked.
    Ty shrugged, then punched the short man and Jonny took the plastic vile.  
Immediately thugs were on them.  They fought back to back, taking on all the 
guards that came at them.
    "Watch it!"  Ty yelled as Jonny flung one over their heads.
    "I'm sorry-" Jonny punched another in the gut, "that I don't have a death 
wish."
    "Me too," Ty replied.
    Suddenly the room was flooded with Agency officers who immediately over 
took the guards and began to bring them outside to the prison vans.
    "What took you so long?" Race asked the woman in charge, and wiped the 
sweat form his forehead.
    "Sorry," Flyer replied, "we got a bit held up."  She didn't specify 
further.
    They walked over to where Jonny and Ty were arguing about something.
    "Did you get the enzyme?"  Race questioned.
    Jonny pulled it out of his pocket.  "This?  What does it do?"
    Any response was cut off by maniacal laughter.  They turned and saw 
Professor X, handcuffed, and laughing.
    "What's so funny Professor X?"  Race asked icily.
    "But you see, that's just it," the man laughed, and then lowered his 
voice.  "I'm not Professor X."

    "Do you think he was working for him?"  Jessie asked the next day while 
everyone was eating breakfast in the private room Maddy had reserved.
    "Probably," Race shook his head, "they've been looking for Professor X a 
long time, I'm just sorry that wasn't him."
    "At least we got out of there," Ty said.  "One more minuet with Hotshot 
here and I think I would have killed myself."
    "Knock it off."  Jessie hit him in the arm.
    "Yeah Ty, why don't you- ow."  Jonny rubbed his arm protectively where 
Maddy'd smacked it.
    "Tyler Everett," Race thought a moment.  "Your grandfather isn't by any 
chance Harry Everett?"
    Ty nodded.  "Yup, taught me everything I know."
    "I worked with him once," Race shook his head.  "Didn't think I was that 
old."
    "Don't worry Race," Dr. Quest said putting down his coffee mug.  "you 
aren't."
    "So it was from your grandfather," Jonny began, "that you learned how to 
carry luggage?"
    "Funny Quest," Ty replied.  "Just like your face."
    "I wouldn't be talking about faces you green-eyed-"
    "That's it."  Jessie and Maddy stood up and yanked the boys out of their 
seats.  "You two can't get along-" Jessie started.
    "-so we're locking you in the supply closet," Maddy finished.  They began 
dragging them out the door.
    "What?"  Ty exclaimed.
    "Dad?  Race?"  Jonny tried.  The two ignored his pleading eyes and they 
were dragged out of the room
    "This is all your fault you know," Ty said.
    "No, you're the one who-"
    "SHUT UP!"

fin